Method And Apparatus For Mapping Of Absolute Power Grant Values in Wireless Communications

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for adjusting power grants in wireless communications. Multiple power grant tables are stored and one or more tables are designated during communication.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/024,991, filed Feb. 8, 2008; which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/887,856 filed Feb. 2, 2007, each of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure is related to wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

In wireless communications an allowable set of carrier amplitudes, power levels, or ratios of power levels may be assigned, or “granted” to a transmitter. These values may be dynamic—the grant may change with time as communication conditions change.

High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing mobile telephony protocols. Evolution of HSPA to support higher system throughput and performance has lead to the introduction of 16QAM modulation on the uplink. One of the items required to support Higher Order Modulation (HOM) is an enhanced pilot.

Several options have been disclosed to provide the enhanced pilot including boosting the power of the Dedicated Physical Control Channel (DPCCH), boosting the power of the Enhanced Dedicated Physical Control Channel (E-DPCCH) and introduction of a second DPCCH. In the case of boosting the power of the DPCCH, scheduling issues occur when the Enhanced Absolute Grant Channel (E-AGCH) needs to jump abruptly and the operating point is near the boundary of the power grant for BPSK and 16QAM modulation. If the power of the E-DPCCH is boosted or a second DPCCH is added, the range of the power ratio may need to be extended. An increase in the power ratio will require either the E-AGCH to have more bits to cover the higher range, or the step sizes must be increased in the E-AGCH absolute grant value.

Current solutions have system drawbacks and require careful consideration of side effects of implementation. Promising options appear to be to boost E-DPCCH power or add a second DPCCH since this will require changing the E-AGCH absolute grant value mapping table and should have minimal impact on the system.

An improved E-AGCH absolute grant value mapping table currently existing has some problems regarding how the table should be updated. One solution would be to add additional indices to support higher power ratio range required for 16QAM. This change requires adding bits to the E-AGCH to cover the additional index values. The additional bits require a format change as well as coding changes. Thus, adding bits has significant effect on the overall system configuration.

One solution is to keep the E-AGCH format as is, including the number of bits, the coding and the format. It is also desirable to retain the current structure of the mapping table.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is related to wireless communications where multiple power grant tables are used for different categories of users. Multiple power grant tables are stored in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). The WTRU receives a signal designating which table is to be used to grant power levels during a communication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of an extended grant table.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a communication device using multiple grant tables.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

When referred to hereafter, the terminology “wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU)” includes but is not limited to a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, or any other type of user device capable of operating in a wireless environment. When referred to hereafter, the terminology “base station” includes but is not limited to a Node-B, a site controller, an access point (AP), or any other type of interfacing device capable of operating in a wireless environment.

Although the present disclosure is described in the context of HSPA, it should not be construed as being limited to this context, which is used as an example.

A plurality of power grant tables are stored in the WTRU. In a first embodiment an index offset value and extended power grant table are disclosed. The plurality of power grant tables is derived from the extended table. As an example, one table of the plurality may contain power values which can be used for BPSK modulation while another contains power values which can be used for 16QAM modulation. The offset value is used as a pointer for the starting index and is established as part of initial call setup between two transceivers. An example of two such transceivers is a WTRU and a Node B initiating a call setup by Layer 3 signaling. Once the offset value is known to the WTRU, the portion of the extended grant table that will be used is known to the WTRU. This method provides flexibility since the extended table could be any size and only the applicable portion of the table is used.

Referring to FIG. 1, by way of example, an absolute grant value table, formerly with 32 indices, is extended to 64 indices by the addition of 32 new entries. An existing table is shown as feature 15 in FIG. 1, containing indices 0 through 31 and corresponding power ratio values in the column headed “Absolute Grant Value.” The power ratio values are shown as squares of ratios of E-DPDCH amplitude to DPCCH amplitude. (E-DPDCH is Enhanced Dedicated Physical Data Channel and DPCCH is Dedicated Physical Control Channel.) The notation x4, x6 etc. in entries for index 24-31 indicates the number of E-DPDCH channels for each of these entries. Index 24 is associated with four E-DPDCH channels, index 25 with two, etc.

The table designated as feature 15 is defined in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification 25.212, version 7.5.0, section 4.10.1A.1. The 32 newly defined entries, defining a second table, are indicated as feature 10, with indices 32 through 63.

The two tables of FIG. 1 can accommodate both 16QAM modulation power ratios and BPSK modulation power ratios. For BPSK modulation, the index offset value is zero. This indicates that the table containing index values from 0-31 shall be used for BPSK. For 16QAM modulation, the index offset value is 32. This indicates that the table for 16QAM contains the entries having index values from 32-63. If the modulation scheme is on the borderline between BPSK and 16QAM, an index offset value of 16 may be used. This would indicate the use of the upper range of BPSK (index 16-31) and the lower range of 16QAM (index 32-47), resulting in a range of values from index number 16 to 47. To reduce the number of bits used to indicate the index offset value, a large table, for example a table with the number of indices much greater than 64, may be split into segments corresponding to the offset value. If, for example, only BPSK and 16QAM are used, then only 1-bit is required to indicate the offset value to determine whether the upper half 10 or lower half 15 of Table 1 is used.

The index offset value may be used to specify a custom power grant table depending on the number of bits that are available for use in the initial setup. This method provides flexibility with minimal changes in initial setup.

The offset value in the table may be transmitted to the WTRU in multiple ways. A first alternative is direct transmission of value during setup. Direct transmission of the offset value may be set up to accommodate any desired offset value.

A second alternative is to make the offset dependent on the slot offset of the AGCH relative to a top sub-frame boundary. For a currently configured AGCH, this allows for three possible values, namely 0, 1 or 2.

A third alternative is to make the offset a function of the Hybrid Radio Network Temporary Identifier (H-RNTI). The H-RNTI offset value could be pre-assigned for different offset values.

A fourth alternative is to make the offset dependent on the AGCH code or channel number that is being used for the AGCH. The AGCH coding or channel number could be set up for different offset values. Only one code currently exits for the AGCH. Other convolutional codes with same rate and puncturing could be used to signify different offsets. This may require that the WTRU perform several decoding cycles of AGCH data until the right code is selected.

As a fifth alternative, the offset could be signaled by the Radio Access Network (RAN) through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. The value of the offset, and thereby the grant table being used, can either be static (i.e. same offset throughout the duration of the connection), semi-static (i.e. reconfigurable through L3 or L2 signaling) or dynamic (i.e. dynamically signaled to the Node B for every new transport block).

A second embodiment uses a separate power grant table for different modulation types, such as BPSK and 16QAM modulation. In this case, no setup is required since the modulation type determines the tables to use. The applicable table is designated based on the modulation type. By way of example, for BPSK modulation, a current absolute grant value mapping may be used, while for 16QAM modulation, a new grant table could be devised and either preconfigured in the WTRU or signaled to the WTRU. A current table which could be used for BPSK is defined in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification 25.212, version 7.5.0, section 4.10.1A.1. This method has no impact on current systems other than adding a new table for 16QAM modulation.

A third embodiment uses an existing power grant table, but with one or more larger intervals for the power ratio values so that the power values cover both BPSK and 16QAM modulation or other modulation types. This may be done by updating existing grant tables with new values. In particular, two power grant tables used in the WTRU may be tables 16B and 16B.12 in Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification 25.212, version 7.5.0, section 4.10.1A.1. The 3GPP specification 25.331, version 7.5.0, section 10.3.6.86a may also be used to define the tables. Grant tables, intervals, or both may be pre-configured in a WTRU. Alternatively, tables, intervals or both may be signaled to the WTRU through RRC signaling upon establishment of the radio communication. In the latter case, either a table or an interval between power values can also be dynamically reconfigurable throughout the life of a connection through RRC signaling. The updated grant table may be signaled by the RAN to the WTRU in one of the following ways: signaling the entire table; signaling the first and last power grant values; or signaling an interval between power values.

Table 1 summarizes embodiments and alternatives described above.

TABLE 1 ORIGIN OF GRANT DESIGNATION OF TABLES GRANT TABLE ALTERNATIVES Tables are Offset value Offset indicates beginning preconfigured in of table portion WTRU Offset indicates segment Increasing at least one of table to be used interval for power Offset value defined and values in a predefined received by: table to derive a Direct transmission second table Slot offset Table, interval, or RNTI both are received E-AGCH code through RRC E-AGCH channel No. signaling, allowing RAN by RRC signaling for dynamically Offset is: reconfiguring of unchanged during table or interval connection reconfigurable dynamically signaled Based on modulation Modulation type may be type QAM type, such as BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, etc.

FIG. 2 shows a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) 100 configured to operate according to the method disclosed above. WTRU 100 contains a transceiver 105 operating as a transmitter and a receiver, a memory 110, and a processor 115. Memory 110 stores a plurality of power grant tables. Transceiver 105 is configured for receiving a signal designating which table is to be used to grant power levels during a communication. The signal may contain an offset or an interval for defining and designating grant tables, as described above. Transceiver 105 may receive grant tables which may be stored in memory 110. Processor 115 processes the information in the signal, designates the grant table to be used, and controls transmitted power based on the designated table.

Although the features and elements of the present disclosure are described in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements or in various combinations with or without other features and elements. The methods or flow charts provided in the present disclosure may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware tangibly embodied in a computer-readable storage medium for execution by a general purpose computer or a processor. Examples of computer-readable storage mediums include a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs).

Suitable processors include, by way of example, a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), and/or a state machine.

A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU), user equipment (UE), terminal, base station, radio network controller (RNC), or any host computer. The WTRU may be used in conjunction with modules, implemented in hardware and/or software, such as a camera, a video camera module, a videophone, a speakerphone, a vibration device, a speaker, a microphone, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a keyboard, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, and/or any wireless local area network (WLAN) module. 

1. A method, comprising: receiving a signal indicating enhanced absolute grant value channel table selection information; selecting, based on the signal, a table comprising absolute grant value mapping information from a plurality of tables; and determining an absolute grant value based on the selected table.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal is received from a higher layer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of tables comprises a plurality of indices and corresponding absolute grant values.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of the tables are preconfigured in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU).
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of the tables are stored in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU).
 6. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a receiver configured for receiving a signal indicating enhanced absolute grant value channel table selection information; and a processor configured to: select, based on the signal, a table comprising absolute grant value mapping information from a plurality of tables; and determine an absolute grant value based on the selected table.
 7. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein the signal is received from a higher layer.
 8. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of tables comprises a plurality of indices and corresponding absolute grant values.
 9. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein the plurality of the tables are preconfigured in the WTRU.
 10. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein the plurality of the tables are stored in the WTRU. 